3,522 research outputs found

    When Spheres Collide: A Refocused Research Framework for Personal Use of Technology at Work

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    Continued advancements in technology and more flexible work arrangements have caused employees’ personal and work spheres to collide, increasing the prevalence of the personal use of technology at work. This collision of often competing priorities presents dilemmas for employees in determining how best to manage tasks throughout the day. Prior conceptualizations of “cyberloafing”, “cyberslacking”, “personal web use,” etc. from prior research classify the behavior as unnecessarily negative and often include non-essential constraints. In this paper, we offer an updated definition and refocused research framework that uses novel insights drawn from the multitasking literature to guide researchers in addressing a central question: how can employees most effectively manage their personal use of technology at work? We address various topics and offer research questions to properly align research and practice while re-initiating further investigations into this interesting phenomenon

    How middle managers draw on cultural resources to shape their behaviors during the orchestration of ambidexterity

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    This study is motivated by the growing influence in organisational research on the perspective of culture as a toolkit of resources from which individuals can draw on to develop strategies of action. Research has established that ambidextrous organisations succeed both in incremental and discontinuous innovation. However, there remains a scarcity of study on how managers orchestrate ambidexterity. This thesis extends the ambidexterity research by investigating how managers orchestrate ambidextrous strategies and how these strategies are shaped by elements of the organisational culture in high technology firms. An interpretive case study approach was used to achieve the aims of the study. Focusing on two engineering projects, 55 interviews were conducted alongside documentary reviews and participant observation for 6 months at Brush Electrical Machines Ltd, UK. Analysis of the findings is conducted using thematic analysis to identify common themes and NVivo was used to draw out patterns until relationships among the emerging themes became clearer. The thesis makes important contributions to the organisational ambidexterity literature by providing useful empirically-driven insights and deconstructing the roles of middle managers in facilitating ambidexterity. The findings of the research indicate that most of the middle managers demonstrated ambidextrous behaviours. These middle level managers enabled their behaviours through diverse cultural resources selected from the organisation s cultural toolkit. Thus, important contributions are made to the literature on organisational culture, specifically on the toolkit perspectives. The thesis takes the perspective that organisational culture should be viewed as heterogeneous and not homogeneous. The study concludes by suggesting that middle management ambidextrous behaviours shaped by cultural resources may be vital for the realisation of improved or sustained competitiveness in organisations

    The Role of Social Structure and Financial Incentives in Individual and Organizational Performance

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    This dissertation investigates the role of individuals in firm strategy and performance by exploring how social factors at the individual-level combine with financial incentives to influence individual behaviors and performance. By drawing on unique proprietary datasets from two service settings, I investigate 1) how social affiliations between real estate listing agents and clients influence value creation, appropriation, and the types of transactions agents engage in, and 2) how corporate awards, which primarily reward individuals based off non-pecuniary social factors, are influenced by individual heterogeneity. The results of this dissertation suggest that a more nuanced view of the impact of social structures on individual and firm performance is needed. Moreover, the results suggest that focusing on the micro-macro links is important to both managers and to future theory in strategic management

    Media Distraction in College Students.

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    Recent development of media technology has greatly changed how students learn. Studying has become increasingly dependent on computer and the Internet, where students have easy access to a world of distractions. This dissertation consists of three studies that observed the amount of media usage during college students’ study activities (Study 1) and investigated the effect of media distraction on their memory (Study 2), reading and quantitative reasoning (Study 3). Results showed that college students from both China and the USA spent a sizable amount of their study time on media activities; lab experiments showed that media activities negatively affected students’ logical memory and reading comprehension, but did not affect performance on a quantitative reasoning task. In addition, the effect of media distraction on reading was negatively related to students’ daily social media usage, suggesting that heavy social media users might have developed adaptations to media distractions. Current college students have grown up with social media websites, and many of them are constantly connected to smart devices. By studying the impact of these technological experiences on their learning and cognition, the dissertation identifies problems of student learning in this digital era, which in turn has implications for educational practices. It also contributes to understanding of the interaction between technological development and changes in human cognition.PhDEducation and PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113320/1/zwwang_1.pd

    Individual Strategies of Response Organization in Multitasking Are Stable Even at Risk of High Between-Task Interference

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    Recently, reliable interindividual differences were found for the way how individuals process multiple tasks (at a cognitive level) and how they organize their responses (at a response level). Previous studies have shown mixed results with respect to the flexibility of these preferences. On the one hand, individuals tend to adjust their preferred task processing mode to varying degrees of risk of crosstalk between tasks. On the other, response strategies were observed to be highly stable under varying between-resource competition. In the present study, we investigated whether the stability of response strategies also persists with increased risk of crosstalk or whether individuals adjust their choice of response strategy, similar to what has been found at the level of task processing modes. Besides, related differences in multitasking efficiency were assessed. For this purpose, 53 participants performed the Free Concurrent Dual-Tasking (FCDT) paradigm, which allows them to control their task scheduling and response organization. The participants completed the FCDT paradigm under two conditions including task pairs characterized by either low or high levels of risk of crosstalk. The free choice of task scheduling resulted in the previously found distinct response patterns, best described as blocking, switching or response grouping. Remarkably, we did not find any notable adjustments of strategies of response organization to the extent of crosstalk. However, we observed suspected performance decrements of a switching strategy in the condition of high risk of crosstalk. The results suggest that individual strategies of response organization are stable habits. Further, they illustrate disadvantages of switching vs. blocking strategies of response organization in case of high task similarity

    Evaluating the effect of new working practices on office space usage in Hong Kong

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    This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald in Journal of Corporate Real Estate on 11/11/2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-06-2019-0030 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Many organizations in Hong Kong have witnessed a reduction in average space usage due to high occupancy costs. New working practices (NWPs) are viewed as a reform tool to manage expensive real estate around the world. However, it is unclear whether NWPs influence office space usage in business organizations in Hong Kong. This study, therefore, aims to evaluate if the average space reduction in office firms is caused by the NWPs in the finance, insurance, real estate and business (FIREB) firms. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 20 NWPs were initially derived from the extant literature. A questionnaire survey was conducted with listed FIREB firms in Hong Kong to assess the impact of the identified NWPs on space usage. The data collected from the questionnaire survey were analysed using descriptive, explorative factor analysis (EFA) and partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the effects of NWPs on average space usage. Findings: Results revealed that four major NWP factors influence average space usage. Three of these factors, namely, “flexible arrangement”, “multitasking knowledge workers” and “teamwork and communication”, influence space usage positively. Even though the effect of the fourth factor “training and networking” was significant, it does not reflect a positive influence on space usage. Business organizations can focus more on the implementation of NWPs to cushion the effects of the high cost of occupancy. Originality/value: The research provides new knowledge to the limited literature on the effect of NWPs in FIREB firms and enriches the growing body of international literature on how today’s competitive global business organizations should revisit their workplace strategies to accommodate the rising agile workforce and NWPs. The findings offer new insights into the ongoing debate on the impact of information and communication technology-enabled NWPs on space usage. From the real estate perspective, the findings should inform policymaking towards the better planning ahead of office properties to accommodate NWPs, helping Hong Kong to remain competitive as a key financial centre.Published versio

    "The Shift from Belt Conveyor Line to Work-cell Based Assembly Systems to Cope with Increasing Demand Variation and Fluctuation in The Japanese Electronics Industries"

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    As consumption patterns become increasingly sophisticated and manufacturers strive to improve their competitiveness, not only offering higher quality at competitive costs, but also by providing broader mix of products, and keeping it attractive by launching successively new products, the turbulence in the markets has intensified. This has impelled leading manufacturers to search the development of alternative production systems supposed to enable them operate more responsively. This paper discusses the trend of abandoning the strategy of relying on factory automation technologies and conveyor-based assembly lines, and shifting towards more human-centered production systems based on autonomous work-cells, observed in some industries in Japan (e.g. consumer electronics, computers, printers) since mid-1990s. The purpose of this study is to investigate this trend which is seemingly uneconomic to manufacturers established in a country where labor costs are among the highest in the world, so as to contribute in the elucidation of its background and rationality. This work starts with a theoretical review linking the need to cope with nowadays' market turbulence with the issue of nurturing more agile organizations. Then, a general view of the diffusion trend of work-cell based assembly systems in Japanese electronics industries is presented, and some empirical facts gathered in field studies conducted in Japan are discussed. It is worthy mentioning that the abandonment of short cycle-time tasks performed along conveyor lines and the organization of workforce around work-cells do not imply a rejection of the lean production paradigm and its distinctive process improvement approach. High man-hour productivity is realized as a key goal to justify the implementation of work-cells usually devised to run in longer cycle-time, and the moves towards this direction has been strikingly influenced by the kaizen philosophy and techniques that underline typical initiatives of lean production system implementation. Finally, it speculates that even though the subject trend is finding wide diffusion in the considered industries, it should not be regarded as a panacea. In industries such as manufacturing of autoparts, despite the notable product diversification observed in the automobile market, its circumstances have still allowed the firms to rely on capital-intensive process, and this has sustained the development of advanced manufacturing technologies that enable the agile implementation and re-configuration of highly automated assembly lines.

    Work Organisation and Innovation in Ireland

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    [Excerpt] Innovations in work organisation have the potential to optimise production processes in companies and improve employees’ overall experience of work. This report explores the links between innovations in work organisation – under the broader label of high performance work practices (HPWPs) – and the potential benefits for both employees and organisations. It draws on empirical evidence from three case studies carried out in the Republic of Ireland, where workplace innovations have resulted in positive outcomes and where social partners played a significant role in their design and development

    Multitasking in the rural world: Technological change and sustainability

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    The rural world offers a heterogeneous picture caused by a rich past and varied responses to a diversity of socio-economic, demographic and political challenges. The present paper aims to trace new opportunities for rurality in the context of a metamorphosis of current production and consumption systems. Addressing issues like diversification, local competition or networking, rural firms are adapting to new conditions by segmenting and moving towards less concentrated forms, in an attempt to integrate the marketing of non-market commodities as the most adequate strategies for consumers. Such strategies that presuppose skills based on a specific know-how and technological improvements also oblige locals to enhance their knowledge basis and learning capacities, thereby facilitating a more environmentally sustainable production model that simultaneously stimulates balanced development. The case of biotechnology in the region of Andalusia (Spain) was used as an illustration to map out the above complex force field. The rural world suggests a new paradigm in which social participation is more needed and local and regional actors are encouraged to find meaningful compromises for the sustainable governance of natural resources and the advancement of social learning
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